I know there’s already a few posts about how people listen to, or discover new music, but I wanted to see how other people get their music. Do you buy CDs or vinyl? Digital downloads? Use streaming services? Something else? And why?
Until a few years ago, I would jump between streaming services depending on the best deals I could get, but got very concerned the more I read about how little money most musicians get from streaming listens (especially via Spotify) - and given I tend to listen to less popular bands/artists, it seems particularly bad for them.
I have a small selection of CDs and vinyl, but mostly buy my music digitally - directly via Bandcamp if the artist is on there, or through an online store like 7digital (or even sometimes if no other option, Amazon) if not. I have a home server where I keep my music and like to be able to stream it directly to my phone, so this tends to be the best of both worlds for me.
Interested to know what others do!
Libraries are brilliant. I used to do a lot of ripping too, when I was learning how to listen to traditional musics from around the world, which then led to buying even more :) I’m not able to drink alcohol for health reasons so my entire entertainment budget was gigs and CDs for years. And it all started with libraries <3 Youtube and MySpace used to be great for exploring too but alas.